Enrollment, residence, and migration of all first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students graduating from high school in the past 12 months enrolled at Title IV institutions, by state: fall 2004

The low and no population growth states relying on out-of-state tuitions at their flagship state universities are headed for trouble. Barring a massive change in Federal funding priorities they will be squeezed between private universities and far lower in-state tuitions.

I'm not surprised by the NJ numbers at all. I'm from Boston and went to school outside Philly - both areas had tons of undergrads from NJ and I agree with the post above that most of the folks going into NJ for school are going to Princeton. Other schools like Rutgers seem to draw more from in-state folks.

Students make for lively communities, and they can be good workers, but they're a burden economically.

What you really want is students moving to your state post-degree. Some other state subsidizes their education, and you get the benefit. Washington state is in this category.

That said, I want Washington to add big dollars to education funding to better educate our own residents, and attract others from outside. We already have a very educated population (Seattle area) but this would improve those numbers also.

^ Don't forget about private institutions of learning. Part of Washington's problem is lack of private universities as well as public. Imagine if we had a Stanford, Emory, Vanderbilt, U of Chicago, etc. in-state importing the best and brightest from other states. I wish today's bilionares would leave legacies like those of the past. The rivalry between Allen University and Gates University would be awesome!

Another problem with Washington is, until recently, most higher education funding went to building one of the most comprehensive community and technical college systems in the country and an uneccessary liberal arts college. Hopefully a few of the new branch campus 4 year schools can evolve into individual institutions complete with graduate and research programs.

Interestingly, Florida attracts a lot less out-of-state students than Pennsylvania does... for example... but an amazingly small amount of Floridians go out-of-state for school

I saw a stat today that said Florida had the lowest university rates in the nation for in-state students. This could be one of the big reasons why so many people stay. Could also be the reason growth has been so slow in the system.

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That's what did it in the end. Not the money, not the music, not even the guns. That is my heroic flaw: my excess of civic pride.

Wait a minute, it costs an arm and a leg to live here. No, I'm not surprised.

Plus, it's virtually impossible to get in to the public universities as undergraduate from out-of-state. Unless you're a star athlete or are uniquely qualified for some specialized program, forget it.

I "teach" at UCI as a grad student, and I've asked my groups of undergrads to raise their hands if they're from out of state. There have only been a couple. The UC schools, especially all those that aren't Berkeley and LA, exist mostly to serve the population of California.